IPC 376 (2021)

"IPC 376" is a Tamil horror thriller film written and directed by Ramkumar Subbaraman, featuring Nandita Swetha in a suspenseful lead role. The film is about Inspector Yazhini, a diligent and bold police officer who finds herself caught up in a creepy and inexplicable case of a series of murders. The life of "Yazhini" (Nandita) is also altered in a strange way when she begins to receive cryptic messages revealing information about impending crimes. The mysterious warnings inform her about suspected accused persons regarding past instances of crimes, primarily against women. But some of them are already dead and brutally murdered before she attempts to stop them. What is more shocking to Yazhini is the revelation that these killings are being done with her own body, without her memory or consciousness. She starts suspecting that there is a supernatural power directing her actions, a spirit perhaps exacting revenge for past injustices. Yazhini’s investigation turns into a personal nightmare when she realises that she is the tool of vengeance for a ghost targeting rapists and criminals who escaped the system. As she struggles time to know the identity of the ghost and its dark history, Yazhini also wrestles demons as well as the perception of being publically required to do her part. As she discovers the ugly vendetta of the specter and the reason behind this abhorrent past crime, tension builds. Yazhini finally finds relief by helping the ghost attain justice but not before facing hard moral and personal choices. "IPC 376" is noteworthy for the combination of crime, supernaturalism, and suspense. Nandita Swetha gives a powerful performance and holds the movie together with energy. Although the climax can be foreseen, the movie functions to provide an adequately tightened thriller with forceful images, emotional complexity, and social significance and thus is a watchable one.